Indiana Executes Jeffrey Weisheit for Killing Two Children

MICHIGAN CITY, Ind — Indiana executed Jeffrey Weisheit early Thursday morning for the 2010 murders of two young children in Evansville.

The Indiana Department of Correction says Weisheit died by lethal injection at 12:45 a.m. Central time at the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City. The execution process began shortly after midnight.

Hours earlier, the Indiana Supreme Court voted 3-2 to reject Weisheit’s emergency request for a 10-day delay. His attorneys questioned how the state obtained and handled the lethal injection drugs, including the involvement of Indianapolis pharmacy Pharmaneek.

The attorneys also pointed to a $5,000 campaign contribution the pharmacy’s owner made to Attorney General Todd Rokita last June. Pharmaneek faces a license revocation hearing Monday, five days after the execution.

Chief Justice Loretta Rush and one other justice favored delaying the execution to review those concerns, but the majority rejected the request.

Gov. Mike Braun said state and federal courts had repeatedly reviewed Weisheit’s case since his 2013 conviction without overturning his sentence. The State Parole Board also unanimously recommended against clemency.

Weisheit was convicted of killing 8-year-old Alyssa Lynch and her 5-year-old brother, Caleb, in an arson attack at their Evansville home. He was dating their mother, who left the children in his care while she went to work.

Investigators found Caleb bound with duct tape and a washcloth taped over his mouth. Firefighters found Alyssa dead inside a closet after the fire.

Attorney General Todd Rokita expressed sympathy for the children’s family, saying he hoped the execution would bring them some measure of peace.

IDOC says Weisheit had no final words. His final meal included barbecue ribs from Texas Corral and Mountain Dew.